Tag Archives: Books

The Redemption of Erâth: The Road to Publication, Week One

So about a week ago I realized that I was basically finished with my novel, The Redemption of Erâth: Consolation, and that there wasn’t a lot left that I could do. The book had been through an editorial review by my publishing company, several rounds of edits in my own hands and those of friends, and finally passed into the hands of a professional editor who gave some fabulous feedback and insight.

I worked hard at making the changes, rewriting some sections of the book entirely, and I’m now feeling pretty happy with the product. So earlier this morning I called my representative at the publishing company and let her know I was ready to submit again.

So begins the journey of my book from letters and words to a real, actual book. I feel like chronicling this journey, so that I can keep track of what I’ve done, and so that you can be kept up to date on where we are, and how soon you’re likely to be able to hold a copy of the book in your hands!

I’ll try to keep a running update each week with regard to where I am in the process, and when deadlines and timelines start to emerge, you’ll be the first to know. For now, the manuscript is off, and out of my hands. I’m a little nervous now, because last time it went through their editorial review process it was suggested that the book would be eligible for their Editor’s Choice award, giving extra recognition and promotion to the book, providing I made that changes that were suggested. I feel like I’ve made those changes now, but this is really the final roll of the dice – if it gets rejected again, I’ll have the choice of going ahead with publication anyway, or face the fact that everything I’ve done up to this point wasn’t good enough.

I’m really, really hoping it doesn’t come to that.

Wish me luck!

A Gothic Symphony: Chapter Six – Steve

Date: October 12, 4:00 PM.

General topics discussed:

• Relationship with parents

• Self-harm

• Suicide/death

• Past worries/fears

• New job

Amy was more responsive this week than most. In general was willing to discuss matters at length, with accurate descriptions of events/feelings etc. Certain topics are still off-limits, including the circumstances surrounding the onset of her depression. She still struggles at times to verbalize thoughts:

”The words never come out right. I can’t ever say what I actually mean.”

She spends a significant amount of time thinking before speaking, although parent-relationship topics appear to frustrate her, and as such is prone to rapid, defensive responses.

Amy brought up the relationship between her and her father spontaneously at the start of the session. She described an incident in which her father got angry when she questioned him about doing the dishes:

“Some shit about money and how he works all day.”

Said her father’s response was to ‘get drunk’. She has referred to her father’s drinking on numerous occasions, but signs do not implicate alcohol dependence. Alcohol may be a coping mechanism.

She also expressed a reference to sex, which is extremely unusual for Amy:

“Then he fucked mom.”

She appears to be extremely sensitive about this topic, although this is not unusual for teenagers her age. Her phrasing and tonality were extremely negative, but it is unclear whether this is in relation to the act of intercourse itself or the general anger she feels toward her father.

She has referenced a ‘distance’ between her and her father on several occasions. The repetition of this topic suggests that there is a desire for closeness that she is not receiving. Her father appears to have been emotionally distant for most of her life. Possibility: Amy was an unplanned pregnancy?

We spoke at length about death and suicide. She initially described a state of being she refers to as ‘numbness’. She finds a lack of emotion/sensation to be comforting. This was brought up reference to self-harm, which she is continuing to do. She claims that she does not self-harm for any sensation of pain, but instead to ‘see the blood’. She appears to find the sight of blood emotionally releasing. There is a strong sense of shedding negativity.

Bring up leech metaphor if appropriate.

Amy likened her numbness to being in a grave. She seems to find a sense of protection, of safety in this state. However, this led to the first roadblock of today’s session: probing about this sensation of safety triggered a shutdown with regard to perceived threats.

It is possible Amy sees death as a place that is safe. However, at the moment the risk of completed suicide is not high:

“I want to be dead, but I don’t want to die.”

For the moment this ideation seems to suffice. She referenced contemplating multiple scenarios of death, though most seem to be taken from the canon of ‘urban myths’, including cyanide poisoning and injecting air into the venous system. She also suggested wrist-cutting, though it does not appear that she has done any significant research into effective methods. This is something to monitor closely over the next few weeks. […]

Read the full chapter here.

Thought of the Week: Return to the Fold

Wow. It’s been almost a month since I last wrote a post on here, and it feels like forever. Luckily for you I had some prescheduled posts for you to read, but last week was pretty much a blank, and I apologize for that. I was kind of off my head when I got back from my three-week work training, and it’s taken me a while to reacclimatize to normal life. I’ve been on and off between depression and lethargy (actually I suppose those two kind of go hand in hand, don’t they), and I certainly couldn’t bring myself to do any writing. Even the Daily Photos stopped, and I do have some lovely pictures to share with you all.

However, it’s not all doom and gloom – I’m back, and I’m recommitting to my writing, here and elsewhere. I have some interesting things to say, and some serious hard work in front of me, and the only way I’m going to get through it is by going one day at a time.

The first thing I need to let you all know is that for the foreseeable future all work on The Redemption of Erâth: Exile and A Gothic Symphony is going to stop. The reason for this is that I finally got my manuscript back from the editor, and while there was a lot of positive feedback, there’s also a lot to work on, including some rather major restructuring. I’m going to need to dive deep into the guts of the story and bring out some key characters in a way that I’d not done before, turn a few things on their heads, chop out some other stuff, and give it an overhaul. The good news is that I’ve got a good plan going now, and there are some chapters that are going to work more or less the way they are anyway.

I plan to post a more detailed overview of the comments and feedback from my editor – I’d love to hear what you think of them, especially if you’re already familiar with Brandyé’s story in the lands of Consolation. For now, I’ll leave you with this: The Redemption of Erâth: Consolation is not going to be ready by Christmas (which I had rather hoped it would be), but it will be coming in the new year. This book has been in the works now for over two years, and I want it to be as perfect as it can be. I hope you can bear with me while I work through these final revisions (and they are final – I’m going through the book one more damn time, and that’s it!), and look forward to being able to hold this book in your hands next year.

Lastly, thank you for all your incredible support – all 2,000+ of you. None of this would have happened without the the feedback and positivity I’ve received from so many of you.

Thank you!

Featured image from http://serc.carleton.edu/sp/library/writing_assignments/index.html.

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